Improvement in the manufacture of purified cast-iron from the ore



J. W. MIDDLETON.

Refining Iron.

Patented Oct. 4, 1870,

N. FUCHS. Photo-Lithographer, Wflfllinmwh 11C.

UNITED STATES PATENT Genres.

JOHN W. MIDDLETON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE PURIFIED CAST-IRON FROM THE ORE.

Specification forming part of Letters To all whom it may concern:

I, JOHN W. MIDDLETON, of the city of Philadelphia, in the State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain improvements in the apparatus andmode of feeding blast-furnaces with heated air or other aeriform orgaseous fluids, and of running off the iron therefrom, of which thefollowing is a specification:

Nature and Object of the Invention.

. My invention relates to the combination, with the lower part of ablast-furnace, of a capaeious hot-air or gas chamber provided with aconcave bottom, having a sluice, with an adjustable stop, communicatingwith a receiver for separating the melted metal from the slag bygravitation, and distributing the contents, when required, in such amanner that the hot blast, heated by a special furnace or otherwise,will serve the purposes, first, of keeping the concave bottom of thehot-air or gas chamber and the receiver for the melted metal and slagwithin the chamber in a strongly-heated or fluid condition as the saidblast passes through it into and upward through the furnace; second, ofallowing the usual hot blast of the furnace to be driven downward fromits mouth through the same Description of the Accompanying Drawings.

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section, in the dotted lines a o, ofFig. 2, of my improved apparatus. Fig. 2is a transverse section, on thedotted line w w of Fig. 1, of the same.

General Description.

A represents a section of the lower end of a blast-furnace provided withan opening, a,

Patent No. 107,942, dated October 4, 1870; antedated September 24, 1870.

which may be in width about forty per cent. of the circumference of thispart of the furnace, and permitting the usual modes of blowing into thefurnace by tuyeres, and the closin g up of this opening a in such lattercase. It gives entire control of the furnace by using tuyeres, stockingthe tunnel-head to suit, and forcing the blast down through the furnace,

' and through the opening a when open, and

along the passage from the latter, over the bottom of the hot-chamber B,to and through the damper-flue O, raised partially for the purpose.

The partially-liquidated stock lies in the mouth of the opening a, andthe fluid metal and'slag flow into a pool, b, which is a little belowand near the middle of the concave bottom of B, and is kept heated inthe said pool by the blast until a quantity sufficient for use is letrun by moving a stop, b, into the receiving-vessel D, wherein the pureiron gravitates toward the bottom of the said Vessel and the slag floatsupward toward the surface of the metal.

Access for removing the stop b is intended to be provided by anadjustable opening in the top of the chamber B or in one side of theflue O.

The receiving chamber or vessel D may be either vertical or inclined,has a flue-space, 4, partly around it, to keep it hot, and is provided,also, with outlet-spouts d d d, for drawing 0E the iron and slag aswanted, for casting or other purposes. Two of these spouts, d at, openon the outside of the chamber, and one of them, d, on the inner side.One of the objects of the inner one is to enable the workmen to pass thehot blast through it and upward through the receiver, for the purpose ofheating it more efl'ectually preparatory to letting the fluid iron intoit; and another object is to permit the fluid iron to run into a gutterin the chamber and through the open ing 11', or through a spout, 5, inthe side wall of the chamber. These spouts are provided with clay stops,to be used, when necessary, to close them.

The vessel D is substantially the same as that described in myapplication filed February 23, 1870.

When the hot blast and the heat of any Claims.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with a blast-furnace, ofthe hot-chamber B and the receiving-vessel D, arranged to operatesubstantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

2. The process consisting in the employment of heated air or otheraeriform or gaseous fluids, or the intense heat of a special furnace,

or both together, driven into the blast-furnace through a hot-chambercontaining a pool or cavity for the reception of the fluid iron and slagfrom the said furnace, and a vessel for receiving the same from the poolor cavity and separating the slag and iron by gravitation therein,substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

3. The process consisting in the forcing of a blast into the upperportion of the furnace and downward through the same into a hotchamberprovided with a pool or cavity for receiving the fluid iron and slag,and a vessel for separating the same by gravitation, substanti all y inthe manner hereinbefore set forth.

JOHN W. MIDDLETON.

Witnesses BENJ. MORISON, WM. H. MORISON.

